20.6 sq mi, some 65,773 people, on a string of islands in the middle of the atlantic. – Bermuda

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Fool me once…

“There are others such as IT companies that are small anyhow their workforce is non-Bermudian.”

This was a comment made by Community and Cultural Affairs Minister Wayne Perinchief in todays royal gazette as for why the proposed workforce equity act is needed; especially to apply to companies under 40 people. Unfortunately Minister Perinchief hasn’t been in communication with the immigration department as, if he had, he’d know that the vast majority of advertisements for IT jobs go unanswered by Bermudians. Not only are companies having a hard time finding capable Bermudians for IT positions, they’re having a hard time finding non-Bermudians willing to come here.

IT is a perfect example of why this act is ill concieved. Bermudians were generally very late to be exposed to computers and the internet due to their high cost and difficulties of our location and infrastructure. When combined with the sad reality of economic disparities between the races, the likelyhood of blacks generally having the same experience with computers as generally wealthier whites is sadly minimized. Does this mean there are no blacks skilled in IT? Of course not, there are many, however the expectation that there are enough to meet the proposed equality measures is beyond far reaching.

Despite this disparity in exposure, our government has expressed little interest in making IT, computers and strong exposure to internet and technology more accessable for Bermudians of tomorrow. Instead, focusing most on disadvantaged Bermudians of yesterday who are victims of the same lack of foresight we’re witnessing today. This lack of foresight and unwillingness to recognize and address the prime causes of disparities between the races is largely what people are up in arms over with regards to the present efforts of our leadership.

It is this blindness that leaves many wondering whether our present leadership truly understands the implications of what they are proposing or if this is simply the latest in racially motivated electioneering tactics designed to fool the electorate into thinking they have our best interests at heart.

As the saying goes. ‘Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me’. Are we again being played the fool?

I’ve been involved in a lot of technical interviews of IT professionals in Bermuda. In cases where there were Bermudian applicants, these applicants were interviewed first. Overwhelmingly, those that considered themselves as technical professionals lacked the necessary credentials to back their claims. Many were technically proficient, but failed to obtain any industry certifications. What was most alarming was that when asked why they never received any certifications, most failed to take responsibility for their own careers and instead blamed their employers. “My boss wouldn’t give me time off to study for the exam” or “My company wouldn’t pay for the exam” or “The company wouldn’t pay for my books.”
IT service providers will not employ employees that do not have demonstrable skills – they have a responsibility to their clients to provide qualified technical resources. Those qualifications are evident as certifications. The employee should feel responsible enough for his or her own career to obtain these certification without being driven by an employer begging the employee to pass the exams.
Put yourself in the position of the professional services manager of a company like ACT, CCS, ICS or Logic. You are being pressured to drive professional services revenue and you have clients that are more than willing to pay for professional technical help. Do you hire the Bermudian who knows a little about computers and claims to be competent or do you hire the Canadian with MCSE and CCIE certifications? When you present the CV of each resource to a client for consideration, which one do you think will command a higher billable rate?
Until three are an abundance of certified Bermudian IT professionals, these companies have no choice but to recruit from overseas to fill these positions. The workforce equity act will do little to change this